likely_evil | The Vegas Job [for nerdherdchuck]

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The Vegas Job [for nerdherdchuck]

ooc: takes place a few days after this

Sam was sitting at a bar at the Mirage, w glass of whiskey in his hand as he swirled it around. One drink was all he allowed himself to have while he was on a job, and he planned on making this one last.

He had been in Vegas for a day now, and while he had gotten a good lay of the land as well as staked out a few of the supposed drop points, Sam had yet to find his contact. Supposedly this guy was a special agent from another government division, one who would be able to help him and had special knowledge of the party that KAOS was trying to sell the object to.

Of course Sam had no idea who he was waiting for. Just told that the guy coming to find him would recognize him for who he was, and leave it at that. Which left Sam sitting at the bar, alone, sipping his whiskey and waiting.

And hoping that his partner for this mission was someone he could get along with last time. Last time the chief sent him on a mission with another government agency, he had gotten some crackpot burnt-out NSA agent who loved his guns a bit more than the safety of his partner.

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"My condolences," Chuck offered, shaking his head slightly.

The bartender brought Chuck his drink and he took a sip. "A friend, of sorts, got me to try scotch. Wasn't always my drink of choice."

"Thanks."

Sam turned a bit now to regard the man. "I was a beer person. Vodka on a bad day. And then the bad days kept coming."

Chuck gave a bit of a nod. "Yeah, I hear ya. That's how I was too."

"So what are you doing in Vegas? Business or --" One of the showgirls walked by, leaning over the bar near them to grab some napkins and flash a bit of leg "-- pleasure?"

"I'm actually on a business trip," Chuck replied. "But I have some time now to see the sites. Last time I was here, a friend of mine and I rode the ride at the Hilton but it's no longer operating. I'm sure there's some new stuff though. Plus I didn't get to see Old Vegas and that Fremont Street Experience yet."

"So you're one of the ones that come to Vegas for the shows," Sam chuckled. "At least that way you know where you're money's going."

He held out his hand. "I'm Sam."

Chuck laughed a bit. "Exactly. I've bet on black when I should have bet on red a couple of times in the past. This time, I think I'll stick to the sites."

He then shook Sam's hand and decided to introduce himself with his nickname, figuring Sam was doing so as well. "I'm Chuck. Nice to meet you."

Sam sucked in air between his teeth. "Yeah, gambling isn't good if you can't control the hustle."

He just looked at Chuck a moment, then shook his head. "I can't help but think you're familiar. Have we met long ago? High School or college maybe?"

Chuck nodded. "Got that right."

He thought for a moment. "Maybe? I attended Stanford University. Where did you go to college?"

"Really? Me too. General Ed for a year, then pre-law. You?" Sam smiled a bit.

It had been a long time since he had met someone from Stanford. The analysts in CONTROL were all from MIT or Brown or other tech schools. Never Stanford.

"Maybe that was it then!" Chuck smiled a a bit. "I was an Engineering major, and I finally graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering."

Of course, it had taken a lot longer to graduate than he planned, thanks to Bryce Larkin...

"Ah, didn't finish. Got pulled into the family business and never got the time to go back. But hey, that's life."

Sam had no idea that Chuck was his contact, since he had been told that the contact would recognize him. It was his own interest that kept him talking.

"It...took me longer than I expected. My life took a bit of a detour too so it took about nine years to get all the credits I needed." Chuck then finished his drink and took a look at his watch.

"Hmm. It's almost time for the show over at Treasure Island. Might be dippy, but hey, it's just next door and it's free," he commented.

"Nine years. But hey, at least they still let you back in."

He looked up at the time, then frowned. Something was nudging in the back of his head. He looked at Chuck again, almost with a what did you say? look, then looked back at the bar. "How about I walk you over there? Keep you from getting sidetracked by the reds and whites on the tables."

"More like let me finish online, actually."

Sam's answer was what he was expecting from his contact. He nodded. "Sure, why not? There are a lot of them in this bar."

"Wonder if I could try that. Will have to look into it."

Sam tossed a bill to the bartender for his tab and the tip, then got up to follow Chuck. "Too bad my trip wasn't here last month. There was a video game expo that had the demo for one of the new RPG's from the guys that made Evercrack. I heard it was good."

"Might not be a bad idea," Chuck replied as he paid for his drink and tossed the tip on the counter. He then got up and started to head towards the exit.

Chuck turned Sam and smiled a bit. "I wish I could have attended that too. I played a few of those RPGs over the years."

"Most of the games I played growing up where hand helds. But I've got a Wii now, and myself and a few guys from work get together to have fun playing games against each other."

Once they were outside, Sam looked to see if anyone was paying attention to them before talking again. "I take it we have more than Stanford in common, don't we?"

"The Wii is a lot of fun. I'm also a fan of X-Box."

Chuck nodded and lowered his voice. "You would be correct. I'm not sure how much you were briefed on your contact though but you seemed a little surprised it was me giving the code phrase."

Sam put his hands in his pockets. "I wasn't told who my contact was, just that they would recognize me for who I was." He looked at Chuck. "How much about me did they tell you?"

"Not much," Chuck admitted. "Basically just where and when to find you and that you were someone roughly my age."

Chuck wasn't sure he was ready to admit just how he recognized Sam so easily yet.

"And then they throw you into the middle of a casino in Vegas during tourist season where my census group is the likely set of tourists to be here."

Sam was good at his job and knew when someone was holding back. The psychic bit helped too.

"All right, so there was a bit more to go on," Chuck admitted.

"What about the mission itself though? You've been briefed on that, right?" Chuck asked, attempting to change the conversation a little bit.

"Yeah, I've done that, along with the research that went with it." Sam nodded with his head to have Chuck walk with him.

"It's a scroll and a set of charms. Dates back to the Babylonian era. The scroll creates to enhancement on the person wearing the charms. It's been hidden for the last six or seven hundred years, but apparently the soul who hid it came back as a demon, and they are working to sell it to the highest bidder."

Chuck gave an impressed smile. "Well, you certainly know more about this than I do. All I know is that a dangerous item has attracted the attention of rouge agencies and getting it back is of utmost importance."

The Vegas Job [for nerdherdchuck]

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